BEIJING (AP) -The International Cycling Union said Monday it hoped to soon strike a deal with the operators of the Tour de France to settle a long-running dispute and bring the world's most prestigious cycling race back into the UCI fold.

UCI president Pat McQuaid told reporters the deal would see the creation of a new world calendar, starting in 2009, that would include both the UCI's ProTour program and the "historical calendar'' of events such as the big tours.

There will also be a new ranking system for riders, teams and nations that, from 2011, will determine which teams must be invited to compete in the Tour, he said.

"I would hope that this initiative can bring an end to the conflict that we have had for several years. The discussions indicate that that is going to happen,'' McQuaid said, speaking on the fourth day of the Olympic track cycling competition.

McQuaid said the discussions took place on the initiative of the International Olympic Committee and that French IOC member Jean-Claude Killy acted as mediator. The talks were between the UCI and the Amaury Group, owner of Tour organizer Amaury Sports Organization. There were no direct discussions with ASO, McQuaid said.

The Amaury Group expressed "hope and caution'' Monday about the plan laid out by McQuaid.

"For the moment, no deal has been signed,'' said a statement from the group. Its president, Marie-Odile Amaury, hailed a "real step forward'' in the talks, but said more steps are needed to reach "calm and harmony'' in cycling.

McQuaid said he hoped the deal could be made formal before the UCI's congress in September in Varese, Italy, and that this would lead to an end to legal action being taken by both sides and allow the UCI to rescind its suspension of the French cycling federation.

"Within the discussions we have made it quite clear to the Amaury Group that we respect their organizational rights in their events and we ask that they respect the UCI in its authority according to its statutes.''

The UCI and ASO have been involved in a dispute over control of professional cycling ever since the UCI created the ProTour four years ago. The circuit of 15 events features 18 of cycling's best professional teams, but ASO and the organizers of the other major tours oppose the requirement that they accept all 18 ProTour teams in their events.

The UCI urged riders to boycott another ASO race, the Paris-Nice, earlier this year, and some riders decided not to take part for fear that it would jeopardize their Olympic places.

In July, during the Tour de France, the 17 ProTour teams competing announced jointly that they would not renew their ProTour licenses unless there was an agreement that included the major tours.

McQuaid has previously warned that it appears that some teams want to set up a rival federation. He said he was now confident that all teams would renew their licenses.

The UCI has been trying to spread the ProTour outside of Europe, encompassing Australia's Tour Down Under and, from next year, the Tour of Sochi in Russia. Some French team sponsors have resisted that, out of concern that their company brands do not benefit so far away from their national market.

McQuaid said he had spoken to a number of directors of professional teams, as well as to the organizers of the Italian Giro and the Spanish Vuelta, and that all has been positive about the agreement.

McQuaid said he hoped in the future that cycling could have one calendar instead of the combination of two, but that this was not possible yet.

"There are fundamental differences in opinion as to how the sport should develop between the UCI and the organizers. I hope in the future we could have a calendar that everyone is agreed upon,'' he said.

Editions Philippe